ArticleScientific reports2018
Evaluation of pre-analytical factors affecting plasma DNA analysis.
Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 147 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Practice Guidelines for Pre-Analytical Procedures of Plasma Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Variant Testing.Annals of laboratory medicine · 2022Guideline
- Guidelines for pre-analytical conditions for assessing the methylation of circulating cell-free DNA.Clinical epigenetics · 2021Pooled it
- Specialized Blood Collection Tubes for Liquid Biopsy: Improving the Pre-analytical Conditions.Molecular diagnosis & therapy · 2020Pooled it
- Multiparametric profiling of plasma cell-free nucleic acids in nonagenarians and centenarians highlights age-related differences associated with longevity.GeroScience · 2026Article
- The role of serologic biomarkers "liquid biopsy" in the fight against breast cancer: From biological foundations to clinical impact.iScience · 2026Review
- Preoperative Plasma Cell-Free DNA Integrity Index in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma: An Exploratory Case-Control Study.Cancers · 2026Article
- Characterizing Early Donor-Derived cfDNA Kinetics in Stable Pediatric Living-Donor Liver Transplant Recipients.Pediatric transplantation · 2026Article
- Common analysis pitfalls in longitudinal ctDNA studies: lead time, sensitivity and immortal time bias.EBioMedicine · 2026Review
- Review
- Redefining oropharyngeal cancer in the HPV era: integrating precision medicine and immunotherapeutic frontiers.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Review
- Long-read sequencing identifies aberrant fragmentation patterns linked to elevated cell-free DNA levels in cancer.Genome biology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal cell-free DNA methylome and fragmentome profiles in health uncover signatures of cell type and demographic origin.Genome medicine · 2026Article
- Harmonising ctDNA Measurement in Haematological Malignancies: Traceability, Commutability and Reporting.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Systematic Review of Methods for Measuring Circulating Cell-Free DNA in Plasma of Healthy Individuals.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Comparative Analysis of Cell-Free DNA Fragmentation Patterns in Canines with Sarcoma and Tumor-Free Canines and Humans.Cancer research communications · 2026Article
- Pre-analytical storage effects on ALU- and LINE1-derived cell-free DNA biomarkers in whole blood and plasma.Biomolecules & biomedicine · 2026Article
- Blood-based tumor biomarkers: integrating biological layers and analytical strategies for precision cancer detection.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA), Its Applications in Cancer Diagnosis and Monitoring, and Its Potential Role in Regulating Cancer Metabolism.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- The Clinical Utility of Cell-Free DNA in Brain Tumor Management: A Comprehensive Review.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2025Review
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Pre-analytical factors can significantly affect circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis. However, there are few robust methods to rapidly assess sample quality and the impact of pre-analytical processing. To address this gap and to evaluate effects of DNA extraction methods and blood collection tubes on cfDNA yield and fragment size, we developed a multiplexed droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay with 5 short and 4 long amplicons targeting single copy genomic loci. Using this assay, we compared 7 cfDNA extraction kits and found cfDNA yield and fragment size vary significantly. We also compared 3 blood collection protocols using plasma samples from 23 healthy volunteers (EDTA tubes processed within 1 hour and Cell-free DNA Blood Collection Tubes processed within 24 and 72 hours) and found no significant differences in cfDNA yield, fragment size and background noise between these protocols. In 219 clinical samples, cfDNA fragments were shorter in plasma samples processed immediately after venipuncture compared to archived samples, suggesting contribution of background DNA by lysed peripheral blood cells. In summary, we have described a multiplexed ddPCR assay to assess quality of cfDNA samples prior to downstream molecular analyses and we have evaluated potential sources of pre-analytical variation in cfDNA studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.